Burner apparatus



April 2l, 1942. A. w; Ruf-F BURNER APPARATUS Filed Sept. 18, 1940 nuentor W Gttomeg.

Patented Apr. 21, 1942 l BURNER APPARATUS lonzo W. Ruff, York, Pa., assignor to York Qil Burner Co., Inc., York,

Delaware Pa., a. corporation of Applieation september 18, 1940, serial No. 351,324.

' v'claims. (C1. 15S-'znL combustion chamber space of any given installation. Y

The invention therefore enables a single type or model of burner to be used in a great many different kinds of installations and particularly with-f out reference to the size and/or shape of the combustion space to which the burner is fitted.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an adjustable. air control device of the character described that is located entirely within the fan casing of a rotary oil burner.

1t is another object of this invention to provide an air control device within a horizontal rotary oil burner adapted to direct the ow of primary air axially, and in either a clockwise or counter-` wise direction for producing a combustion ame of desired shape.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an air control device to produce a long cigarshaped combustion flame, a short ball-shaped combustion llame, as well as flames, the shapes of which are variable at will as to length andlateral extent. Y

It is also an object of this invention to provide an air control device of the character described` A which may be adjusted to alter the shape of the flame, during operation of the oil burner,y Without disturbing combustion conditions, and 1without change in quantity of either Vair or oil supplied to the burner. 1

In explanationof at least one important and practical advance inthe art accomplished by the instant invention, it` obviates the `necessity of dealers carrying in stock a very large number of burner parts of diierent sizes and shapes (e. g. spinner cups and air noses) Thispractice has been heretoforenecessary, in order to enable proper installations to be made, especially with regard to the length and shape of the combustion flame to vfit the varyingsizes and shapes of comi bustion spaces. The selection of proper parts to suit a particular installation was largely a cut and try practice, so that not infrequently several trials and changes werenecessary beforea proper selection of parts had been made, i. e. a selection Cfr which produced ar suitable shaped ame for the particular installation. By contrast with this practice, in the use of the present invention, the burner may be completely set up or assembledy at the-factory and requires -no changes or substitution of parts to render it suitable for any particular installation. The burner can now'be completely installed and set in operation before adjusting the primary air supply for obtaining any desired ilame'shape. i

Other objects and advantages of this-invention will be apparent from the following description of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation view, partly in section,

`of a horizontal rotary oil burner provided with my `improved'air controldevice.

'Figure 2'is an elevationl view of the inside of the front casing of the'air fan shown in Figure l showing the directing bladesprovided to control airflow. Y'

Figure 3 isan edge view of one of the air director blades and its supporting mount.

Figure 4v is aside'view of the blade shown in Figure 3.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawing, the housing or enclosure 'for the electricy motor -of a horizontal rotary oil burner is indicated by the numeral I0. The motor drives the shaft II which carries an roil spinner cup. I2 Jat the combustion chamber endl for distributing and atomizing fuel oil sup-v plied under pressure through the hollow shaft Y I I. The latter shaft also .carries and drives a centrifugal'fan I3 within a fan casing including a rear shell I4 secured to the casing l0, and a front shell I5 secured bybolts to the rear shell I4. Air is admitted' to the hub of fan I3 through the motor casing and a control valve such as an adjustable, irisV type diaphragm shutter, indicated b-y numeral I5. The fan shell and associated parts are appropriately supported with reference to a plate Il suitably mounted at the/ fire opening of a furnace (not shown). The plate I'I carries a conical nozzle I8 directed through the furnace Wall toward the furnace combustion chamber. The front fan shell I5 may be spaced from the plate II to provide an inlet for secondary air to the combustion zone that is delivered through the nozzle I8. 4 y y The front fan shell I5 supports a baffle plate I9 spaced from the shell I5 by a plurality of studs or bushings 20. The stationary 4baille I9 lies closely adjacent thev centrifugal fan I3 and may have its central or hub portionv 2'I. curved outwardly toward the oil cup I2, to provide for smoother flow of air from the fan I3.

My improved air control device includes a plurality of flexible vanes or blades 22, preferably of spring steel or the like, positioned in the annular air passage between the baille I9 and the inner wall of the front fan shell l5. The outer end of each blade 22 `is detachably secured in one of the spacing bushings 20. See Figs. 2 and 3. The bushings 20 may be slotted so that the blade 22 having an offset curved portion or hump 23 is removably held therein, and is normally retained in assembled position by the baille plate I9. The inner end of each blade 22 is preferably curved along one edge, `as shown in Fig. 4, to conform to the surface of the flared central portion 2| of baille plate I9. A flanged ring 24 is seated in a groove 25 on the inner face of and surrounding the central opening in fan shell l5.

A flanged conical air nose 2S is carried by the ring 24, so that the ringand nose 26 may turn with respect to the frontfan shell I5. As indicated in Fig. 2, the ring 24 may have a segment of its peripheral liange cut away providing an arcuate slot 2l cooperating with a pin 28 fixed in the fan shell I5 to limit the extent of angular or rotary movement of ring 24. A series of pins 29 project from the ring 24 and engage the sides of thev flexible blades 22. Two such pins are associated with each of the blades 22, one onfeach side thereof, so that the blades will be deflected by one or the other of the pins, depending on the direction of rotation of the ring 24. An operating rod 30 secured to the flange of the air nose 26 and extending radially outward through the space between plate Il and the front fan shell I5 is provided to permit external adjustment of the angular or rotational position of member 26 and ring 24. Movement of the rod 30, in one direction or the other, produces a correspondingly directed rotation of the ring 24, and by engagement of the pins 29 with the blades 22 the latter are uniformly and simultaneously flexed from a normal radial position. The blades 22 may be exed to the positions shown in Fig. 2,

or may be flexed to any desired intermediate degrees of curvature or to the position of opposite curvature, shown by dotted lines 22.

The operation of the above-described air control apparatus is as follows: When the burner is placed in operation, the centrifugal fan I3 draws air through the casing Il] and builds up an air pressure in the outer annular chamber between the'front fan shell I5 andthe rear shell I4. Air

under pressure flows from said annular chamber inwardly through the space between the inner wall face of the front fan shell I5 and the baffle plate I9, and is deflected outwardly over the outer surface of the oil cup I2 by the conical flared portion 2l of the ballie plate I9. This path of air flow is also confinedby the conical air nose piece 2li which surrounds the oil cup I2. As the air passes between front fan shell I5 and baffle I9 it engages the blades 22 which in the deected position of Fig. 2 will impart rotary movement to the air stream in a clockwise direction. By manipulation of the rod 30, the ring 24 may be rotated to cause the pins 25 to hold the blades in a radial position, or may be turned further to flex the blades toa position such as shown by dotted lines 22. A wide range of adjustment is possible to secure any desired degree of rotary movement of primary air entering the combustion zone from between the oil cup I2 and the member 25. The air may be caused to rotate in the direction of rotation of oil cup I2, or in the opposite direction of rotation, or may be caused to pass into the combustion zone longitudinally without rotary movement. Minimum rotary movement of the primary air, corresponding to the normal radial position of the blades 22, tends to produce a long cigar-shaped combustion name. Rotary movement of the primary air, induced by deflection of the blades 22 tends to produce a short ballshaped flame. The total volume of primary air may be adjusted to suit combustion requirements by adjustment of the iris valve I6.v

It will .be readily apparent from the foregoing that the described air control device permits one to shape. thecombustion flame in any given burner installation to that best suited to the shape of the particular furnace firebox. The airflow may be controlled and varied while the burner is in operation and thus shutdowns for various trial adjustments are avoided.

Other advantages of my improved apparatus will be readily vapparent from the above description of the embodiment illustrated. Obviously, Variationsinl the nature and rarrangement of the various elements will be evident to those skilled in this art, and this invention contemplates any equivalent structure within the scope of the fcllowing claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In burner equipment for use with a combustion chamber-the combination with a fuel discharge nozzle adapted to deliver fuel into the combustion chamber; 'a fan; a shell encasing said fan and having a central annular air outlet; and an air nozzlerin registry with said outlet and surrounding said Afuel nozzle; whereby saidfan is 'adapted to discharge 'air from said shell through 'said outlet and: air nozzle and into the combustion chamber; of a `plurality of flexible vanes arranged within the fan shell in the path of air flow from the fan to the shell outlet; andmeans engageable with said vanes foriflexing the same for controlling the directional movement of the air delivered to the air nozzle between the limits of a spiral movement of selected pitch and a rectilinear movement to thereby control the shape of the burner flame with respect to the shape and dimensions cf the combustion chamber.

2. In burner equipment for use with a combustion chamber-the combination with a fuel vdischarge nozzle adapted to deliver fuel into the combustion chamber; a centrifugal fan; a shell encasing said fan and having a central annular air outlet in the front wall thereof; a bale plate pcsitionedbetween 'said shell front wall and said fan to provide with said front `wall an 'air passage from adjacent the periphery of said vfan to air air outlet, said .plate having a hub outwardly flared in the direction of said outlet; and an air nozzle in registry with'said outletand surrounding said fuel nozzle; whereby said fan isadapted to discharge air through said vair passage, through said outlet and Jair nozzle and into the combustion chamber; of 'a plurality of flexible vanes radially arranged in said air passage, the inner end portion'of each vane having a curved edge conforming with the curved surface of said baille plate hub, and adjustable lmeans engageable with said vanes for flexing the same-for'controlling the directional movement of the air delivered through said air nozzle and Ythereby control the shape of the burnerflame with respect to the shape and dimensions of the combustion chamber.

3. In burner equipment for use with a combustion chamber-the combination with a fuel discharge nozzle adapted to deliver fuel into the combustion chamber; a fan; a Casing defining a chamber having an inlet for air from said fan and a central annular air outlet, said inlet being spaced from said outlet in a radial direction; and an air nozzle in registry with said outlet and surrounding said fuel nozzle; whereby air passing from said fan into said inlet flows through said chamber, through said outlet, through said air nozzle and into the combustion chamber; of a plurality of flexible vanes arranged within said chamber and in the path of air flow from said inlet to said outlet and extending between said outlet and said inlet and substantially radially from said outlet, and means for flexing each of said flexible vanes to positions in which the vanes provide curved surfaces to impart a desired direction to the path of the air issuing from said outlet into said air nozzle to thereby control the shape of the burner flame with respect to the shape and dimensions of the combustion chamber.

4. Equipment as recited in claim 3 wherein each vane is relatively thin and has a width substantially equal to the width of said chamber.

5. Burner equipment as recited in claim 3, wherein the vane flexing means comprises a ring-shaped element rotatably mounted on the casing, a plurality of pins projecting from said element for engagement with the vanes, there being at least one pin for engagement with each vane, and means operable from the exterior of said casing for adjusting said element through a limited range of angular movement, whereby said pins engage said flexible vanes to flex the same to positions in which the vanes provide curved surfaces to impart a desired direction to the path of the air issuing from said outlet and through the air nozzle.

6. Burner equipment as recited in claim 3, wherein each vane is secured adjacent one end thereof to the casing; and wherein the vane flexing means comprises a ring-shaped element rotatably mounted in a recess in a wall of said casing, a plurality of pins projecting from said element for engagement with said varies, there being a pair of pins for each of said varies providing a pin on each side of each vane, and means operable from the exterior of said casing for adjusting said element through a limited range of angular movement, whereby said pins engage said flexible vanes to flex the same out of their radial positions to either side thereof, providing curved vane surfaces to impart a desired direction to the path of air issuing from said outlet into said air nozzle.

7. In burner equipment for use with a combustion chamber-the burner equipment having a fuel discharge nozzle adapted to deliver fuel into the combustion chamber; a centrifugal fan; a shell encasing said fan and having a central annular air outlet; and an air nozzle in registry with said outlet and surrounding said fuel nozzle; whereby said fan is adapted to discharge air from said shell through said outlet and air nozzle and into the combustion chamber; the improvement comprising: a plurality of radially disposed flexible vanes arranged within the fan shell in the path of air ow from the fan to said shell outlet, each vane having a xed portion and a portion free to flex to either side of a radial line from the axis of said outlet through the fixed portion of the vane, and means engageable with said vanes for flexing the same for controlling the directional movement of the air delivered through said air nozzle to thereby control the shape of the burner flame with respect to the shape and dimensions of the combustion chamber.

ALON'ZO W. RUFF. 

